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Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Chapman Gets Feet Wet For Yankees: Will He Do More Than That?

During last night's Yankee game, there was a tweet on my timeline which made me laugh. I forgot to like and/or retweet it, so I am unable to give credit where credit is due. However, the gist of it was this: "What's the sense of having Chapman here if they're going to hit so many home-runs?"

Thanks to Royals starter Chris Young, the Yankees were able to play home run derby in the early innings, knocking five solo shots out of the park, one each by Brian McCann, Brett Gardner and Aaron Hicks, and two by Carlos Beltran. A sac fly by Hicks took away a save opportunity, but as we learned after the game, Aroldis Chapman was going to pitch anyway, no matter what the situation was.

So he's gotten his feet wet. Will he get to do much more than that? That all depends, of course, on the starting pitching and the offense. If you look back at the past week, it's very tempting to say that he'll be pitching in high leverage situations in the near future. The Yankees have won four of their last six games, and about five of the last seven turns through the rotation have resulted in quality starts. It looks as if they have arrived at the corner. Let's hope that they can actually turn it.

If they don't turn the corner, Aroldis Chapman might not be long in pinstripes. That would be very sad, because it would mean the Yankees would be out of it. However, the possibilities of what they could get for him are probably endless.

So having Chapman on the Yankees roster will definitely pay off. We just need to find out how.